(CNN) - There are a lot of things I am sick of hearing after massacres such as the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Here are six of them:

1. “It was God’s will.”

There may or may not be a God, but if there is, I sure hope he (or she or it) does not go around raising up killers, plying them with semiautomatic weapons, goading them to target practice, encouraging them to plot mass killings and cheering them on as they shoot multiple bullets into screaming 6- and 7-year-old children. Much better to say there is no God or, as Abraham Lincoln did, “The Almighty has his own purposes,” than to flatter ourselves with knowing what those purposes are.

2. “Jesus called the children home.”

I don’t want to hear that Jesus needed 20 more kids in heaven on Friday - that Madeleine Hsu (age 6) or Daniel Barden (age 7) were slain because Jesus couldn't wait to see them join his heavenly choir. Even the most fervent Christians I know want to live out their lives on Earth before going “home” to “glory.” The Hebrew Bible patriarchs rightly wanted long lives. Moses lived to be 120. Abraham was 175 when he died. Madeleine and Daniel deserved more than 6 or 7 years.

3. “After death, there is the resurrection.”

In the Jewish tradition, it is offensive to bring up the afterlife while in the presence of death. Death is tragic, and deaths such as these are unspeakably so. So now is the time for grief, not for pat answers to piercing questions. “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,” says the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, and now is not a time for laughing or dancing or talk of children raised from the dead.

4. “This was God’s judgment.”

After every hurricane or earthquake, someone steps up to a mic to say that “this was God’s judgment” on New Orleans for being too gay or the United States for being too secular. I’m not sure what judgment of God would provoke the killing of 27 innocent women and children, but I certainly don’t want to entertain any theorizing on the question right now. Let’s leave God’s judgment out of this one, OK? Especially if we want to continue to believe God's judgments are "true and righteous altogether" (Psalms 19:9).

5. “This happened because America is too secular.”

Unlike those of us who are shaking their heads trying to figure out what transpired in Newtown, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, an evangelical icon, apparently has it all figured out. We don’t need fewer guns in the hands of killers, he said Friday on Fox News, we need more God in our public schools.

“Should we be so surprised that schools have become such a place of carnage? Because we’ve made it a place where we don’t want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means, accountability,” Huckabee said in an astonishing flight of theological and sociological fancy.

Just keep plying people like the killer with Glocks and Sig Sauers. As long as we force Jewish and Buddhist Americans to say Christian prayers, then the violence will magically go away. The logic here is convoluted to the point of absent, leaving me wondering whether what passes for "leadership" in America can sink any lower.

6. “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”

If ever there has been a more idiotic political slogan, I have yet to hear it. The logical fallacy here is imagining that people are killed either by people or by guns. Come again? Obviously, guns do not kill people on their own. But people do not shoot bullets into people without guns. At Sandy Hook and Aurora and Columbine, people with guns killed people. This is a fact. To pretend it away with slogans is illogical and revolting.

The question now is: Are those of us who have not yet been killed by guns going to allow these massacres to continue unimpeded? Are Americans that callous? Is life here so cheap? I have read the Second Amendment, and I find no mention there of any right to possess any gun more advanced than an 18th-century musket? Do I really have the right to bear a nuclear weapon? Or a rocket-propelled grenade? Then why in God’s name would any U.S. civilian have the right (or the need) to bear a .223-caliber assault rifle made by Bushmaster?

If you believe in a God who is all powerful and all good, then covering up for the Almighty at a time like this is in my view deeply unfaithful. Today is a day to shake your fist at heaven and demand answers, and then to shake it harder when no answers are forthcoming. To do anything else is in my view to diminish the idea of God, and to cheapen faith in the process.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Stephen Prothero.

soundoff(5,447 Responses)

You were good up until #6. The suspect didn't use an assault rifle in the shooting, he used a semi-auto weapon.

December 19, 2012 at 5:25 am |

PPLRWRD

Good call, the assault rifle was in the car but you are right it was not used in the school. I don't know if it was used at the home or not though. Great point though.

December 19, 2012 at 5:26 am |

blarg

Still not there yet. There was NO assault rifle involved in this event. An assault rifle is a select fire (meaning capable of burst or auto fire) that uses an intermediate cartridge. The AR-15 he used was a semi-auto weapon, requiring a new trigger pull for each shot. As such, it is not an assault rifle.

For those who want to know the full breakdown of assault rifles versus "assault weapons," please see the follow imgur linked image: http://i.imgur.com/5SZ8x.jpg

December 19, 2012 at 5:32 am |

PPLRWRD

You know why people keep blaming God or trying to pass it off as "he has a reason?" It is because it allows us to take the focus of the real guilty party: humans.

December 19, 2012 at 5:12 am |

hexa ena asplund

again. we have laws against murder. doesn't stop murder. but using your logic why bother having any laws? it doesn't stop the crime. so make up your mind. do we have laws or not? it's that simple. laws are not on the books to assure the crime never happens. it's a statement of what we expect and allows us to deal with those who break the laws. try using your brain more than your fingers.

December 19, 2012 at 5:33 am |

PPLRWRD

I heard today that the gunman broke about 44 different laws in this atrocity. It makes me wonder how more laws are going to stop this. Also, guns have been around the United States for as long as it existed, yet is is only in the last ten years we have seen these mass shootings as frequently as we have. Makes you wonder, is it guns, or the morales of this country? Oh, and I don't own any guns myself.

December 19, 2012 at 5:09 am |

hexa ena asplund

every person i see questioning new gun laws needs to ask themselves why we have any laws at all. shucks, laws against murder do not stop all murders, let's just get rid of the laws against murder. go ahead, say that one over and over again. see how stupid it makes you feel? now you might be thinking again.

we have laws to tell people what behavior we expect, not to stop all crimes. it also gives us a real nice way to deal with offenders.

now tell me something really stupid again like you don't see why gun laws would do any good. go on, tell me something really stupid...

December 19, 2012 at 5:17 am |

PPLRWRD

So, using your own words laws are there to tell people what we expect. I expect people not to kill others. Only law abiding citizens follow that. So now I will say I expect people to give up their guns. Who can we expect to follow that?

December 19, 2012 at 5:19 am |

PPLRWRD

Wait, here is one really stupid about why gun control laws are worthless. Man picks up a kitchen knife (because local law prohibits the owning of guns) and walks into a school killing 12 elementary school children. Speculation. Unfortunately not. Happened in China not to long ago.

December 19, 2012 at 5:21 am |

PPLRWRD

Oh, and why do we have the right to bear arms. Tyrrants. What is this you say, how many tyrrants have we had to put down. Zero. So very smart of you. Let me ask you this, how many tyrrants have we not had to put down? I guess we will never know.

December 19, 2012 at 5:23 am |

PPLRWRD

And again hexa, I don't own any guns. Don't want any guns. Have no plans to purchase any guns. So really any gun laws out there are meaningless to me either way. But I do thing people like you should really take the time to read a few history books and learn why we have the right to bear arms. Don't think it can happen? Take a look at China, Iran, Egypt, Syria, etc. Tyrants all over the place.

December 19, 2012 at 5:25 am |

PPLRWRD

Hexa? You still there? I didn't slam you to hard did I? I didn't mean too. Just trying to enlighten you. Please don't cry. Come on, lets be friends.

December 19, 2012 at 5:28 am |

hexa ena asplund

let's just get rid of murder laws. using your logic why have them. instead of having a celebration dance because you think you scored points, try reading my full comment again. as for your tyrant thing, try this one on. when this country first started we did not have a fully equipped standing army. so we needed amendment two. well we have a fully equipped army now, so we do not really need amendment two. if you want to play games you need a bigger noodle.

December 19, 2012 at 5:37 am |

hexa ena asplund

i also do not buy for one second that you do not own a gun. if you told me you were not a flack for the NRA i would most likely not believe that either. however i would believe that they were paying you way too much for your services.

December 19, 2012 at 5:40 am |

hexa ena asplund

anytime you want more come right on over to twitter. i eat pro-gun activists for breakfast. you have a great day and be sure to cash that paycheck before the NRA goes under. see ya squid.

December 19, 2012 at 5:53 am |

PPLRWRD

Uh, you said a lot of "your stupid" but without any supporting evidence? Why do I need to go to twitter? I thought we were having a very lively debate right here. Well, there just is no talking to you I guess. I do appologize for my antagonistic remarks though. I do mean that in all seriousness. I think one of the reason I we can never have a real conversation on these website is we so quickly drop to insults instead of real, calm, intellectual debate. I let myself drop to that and I was wrong. I appologize for my sarcastic remarks. Oh, and seriously, I do not own a gun.

December 19, 2012 at 6:07 am |

Cooper

I never blame a god. To me that would be blaming the Easter Bunny, Mickey Mouse or some other character.

December 19, 2012 at 4:48 am |

hexa ena asplund

let them have it. it a heck of allot less painful than blaming the real culprit. the collective that is human.

December 19, 2012 at 4:52 am |

PPLRWRD

Besides, if God was real trying to pawn anything off on him or trying to judge him would be pretty futile.

December 19, 2012 at 5:13 am |

Bhaskar

I am sad for the families who have lost their loved one but this time around I expected a pile of guns and not flowers and candles laid down to honor the victims. Why is it that not a single American Citizen has the courage to take his or her gun (if they have it ) to lay down pledge not to use or get it again ! This is something so elementary and yet all Americans are waiting for the government to decide what should be done with the arms.

December 19, 2012 at 4:42 am |

Lisa

Maybe because the innocent citiczens should not be punished with loss of freedom because of what someone else has done to cause harm. Loss of the right to own a weapon is a punitive measure not a gesture of kindness.

December 19, 2012 at 4:55 am |

PPLRWRD

I heard today that the gunman broke about 44 different laws in this atrocity. It makes me wonder how more laws are going to stop this. Also, guns have been around the United States for as long as it existed, yet is is only in the last ten years we have seen these mass shootings as frequently as we have. Makes you wonder, is it guns, or the morales of this country? Oh, and I don't own any guns myself.

December 19, 2012 at 5:08 am |

blarg

I didn't commit a crime with my weapons, so why should I turn them over? I have absolutely no intention to use my firearms in an offensive manner, only in defense of myself or others against aggressors who would do them harm. Why should I be expected to disarm myself because one of those people against whom I'm arming myself followed through on the worst case scenario for which I was preparing?

December 19, 2012 at 5:35 am |

PPLRWRD

Amen blarg!

December 19, 2012 at 6:08 am |

David

It is interesting to see how those who consider themselves to be agnostic or atheist bring God into the conversation just as quickly, or oftentimes more quickly, than the Christian. There is a desire for God within all of us. It will not quiet, it will not go away.

December 19, 2012 at 4:40 am |

hexa ena asplund

innocent citizens? we are all to blame for the deaths of the 20 6 and 7 year olds. those were the innocent ones, the ones that were slaughtered. and if you think your precious AK47 is more important than the lives of those children we just lost, you have lost something. your sense of decency and civility and humanity. when children do not behave a good parent takes away their toys. it's way past time your mama and daddy took your toys away from you.

December 19, 2012 at 5:07 am |

AmericanHumanist

Personally, I find your assertion to be not only insulting, but stupid. We don't bring it up, we simply respond to it being injected into our daily lives by those who "believe" in that sort of nonsense!

December 19, 2012 at 5:14 am |

blarg

I haven't brought it up, only criticized others for doing so. I have absolutely zero desire for any deities influencing my life. I'm a gun owner, I haven't killed anyone yet, I'm an atheist, and I'm a moral, upstanding citizen, officer in the US military, and quite loving life. I do not need your god.

December 19, 2012 at 5:38 am |

hexa ena

It is a bit odd that people blindly ignore facts and reality by totally accepting words on cloth that were dug out of the ground, and translated and reinterpreted several times over. Especially when these texts are older than the dirt they came from. there are some excellent teachings; Jefferson himself saw that and reproduced them sans the crazy waving chickens in the air aspects.

Sure these people have never seen God and cannot prove any of these texts much less the existence of anyone mentioned in them. Sure there are countless contradictions within these texts. But to see atheists roil around in a thread and attack these poor people who cling to a myth is disgusting, because these atheists cannot prove their views out either. Worse still I have not seen any offerings from these atheists that match the teachings of Christ. But you guys can beat your chests and exclaim you never started any wars. Give yourselves a gold star.

It's a standoff between people who do not have the patience to wait for the actual truths and must fill in the gaps RIGHT NOW. And both types require no proof to cling to a certainty that only exists between their ears.

Maybe it's comfort. Maybe it keeps you off the streets. Maybe it makes you feel better about your dark thoughts and desires. And if that is the case, well then both sides please keep grasping firmly to your fantasy tethers. Who knows maybe one of you is right.

All I ask is that you all wake up and realize you don't own the joint. You don't control the game. And you don't control anyone outside of your own head. So do us all a favor and find a quiet hallway somewhere and duke it out.

The rest of us have bigger fish to fry. We have to confront a lack of answers and accept that we cannot have them all tidy within our grasp. And that, that ain't easy. Try it sometime, but if your head starts exploding, please dear god, go back to the land you came from where proof is never required.

December 19, 2012 at 4:37 am |

fdtdf

The author is missing a big point... Death does not exist to God. it's just a transition. Only we survivors on this Earth see Death as a loss.

December 19, 2012 at 4:31 am |

AmericanHumanist

Sorry, but your fantasy regarding death does not make any sense (from a rational point of view).

December 19, 2012 at 5:16 am |

michael

ahh just another nice little pat answer to tidy things up. you actualy have no proof of anything so try taking some blame for this as a human

December 19, 2012 at 5:29 am |

Lisa

Michael. I do not believe in the existance of life after death. I also do not believe that all humans were responsible for this incident. Only one human..the gunman.

December 19, 2012 at 6:06 am |

Larry

God's will is that god won't.

Funny how the same people who rage about all those lazy unemployed people worship a lazy unemployed god.

"Can't work today. The ole free will is acting up again and I just can't do a darn thing. Send money and worship; Ill be here eating pork rinds and watching "Three's Company" reruns.

December 19, 2012 at 4:10 am |

adh1729

God is infinitely greater than you, but no, he has to conform to the small constructs of your small mind.

If you are smarter than he is, then by all means, outdo him. Put him to shame. Teach him some lessons.

December 19, 2012 at 4:58 am |

Larry

Nonexistence is indeed infinite, adh1729

December 19, 2012 at 5:17 am |

sam stone

"God is infinitely greater than you, but no, he has to conform to the small constructs of your small mind."

And these small minds are the same as those who claim to know what god thinks, or likes, or dislikes

December 19, 2012 at 5:26 am |

Mark

People are now beginning to realize that the whole god thing is responsibility crutch. I understand that the trauma of life is often overwhelming and people have had a need to blame something and/or someone in their moments of terror and grief. But they need to realize that they are the ones responsible for their lives. Everyone likes to be responsible for good things. However, when bad things are involved, nobody wants to take that on unless they're forced. One of the main ways people avoid taking on those negative responsibilities is via a god figure. God's will or mysterious ways or whatever. Anything to get the burden off. Like many things that people have created throughout history that were intended for good, religion has become a misused. What you see in the response to Sandy Hook is not religion's doing, it's human doing. It's one of those good responsibilities that we don't shy away from and it makes the receiver and the giver feel better. The tender responses we've been witnessing are instant and need no prodding. That's the good that's basic to us as humans. Guns are part of our defensive culture. Gun laws are a good thing to have and we have them. But we're not going to get anywhere with gun legislation in this country by using the words "gun control". No matter how stupid we are, we don't want to think that we're being controlled. Words have consequences and power. What we're actually after is "gun safety". That's the term we should be using in this argument. Please start relying on common sense when considering where to go from here. It's much more reliable than any god you could ever come up with.

December 19, 2012 at 4:08 am |

Thusly put

He's starting to understand how inhuman and senseless and improbable so many of its ideas are.

So he understands more than you.

December 19, 2012 at 4:20 am |

Samantha

This guy is a "religious" scholar but doesn't understand religion at all.

December 19, 2012 at 4:05 am |

AnnieCee

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. Or, he doesn't seem to understand Christianity at all.

December 19, 2012 at 4:11 am |

adh1729

There is a power group that owns the media, the government and pretty much everything else. Democracy in America is a sham. They have been working for a century to break down all of America's traditions. Atheism is their religion.

These types of articles are simply propaganda pieces from the power group.

December 19, 2012 at 5:02 am |

sam stone

Atheism is a religion and not collecting stamps is a hobby

December 19, 2012 at 5:27 am |

michael

religion is man made. the bible written by men. I wouldnt wait for some glorious afterlife if i were you. try living this one becasue thats it

December 19, 2012 at 5:32 am |

WRSOFCKED

As an agnostic, I'm ashamed at the vitriol from atheists. You come here to post about how stupid and naive the religous people are and yet do so in the most hateful manners possible all while decrying the religous people as intolerant and bigoted. You arent exactly setting a better example for them.

The irony of your own insensitivity is lost on you despie your supposed "superior" reasoning power. You are no better than those religous intolerants you call ignorant. You are just bitter little trolls taunting and mocking to spread misery by using the death of children as an excuse to insult those you disagree with.

December 19, 2012 at 4:04 am |

AnnieCee

Well said. I've also wondered what the average age of these trolls is. I suspect many of them are very young. Children or teens who are spamming on subjects they know very little about.

December 19, 2012 at 4:14 am |

Alvin r.

Calm down, take a deep breath, it's okay. This is an unmoderated forum, and they always get raucous. I one hung out at a fountain pen forum, and you would be astounded at how nasty people got about ink. Yes, fountain pen ink. Consistently set off bitter shouting matches. No joke.

December 19, 2012 at 4:15 am |

the AnViL

as an anti-theist – i feel agnostics should be ashamed of themselves.

December 19, 2012 at 6:04 am |

Johnny Blammo

Well Stephen Prothero, now you know why we atheists have been subjected to for all these centuries, and perhaps why many of us are so adamant to firm back hard.

Tell Christians the truth, and look what they do.

You walked a mile in our shoes, and you got to see fellow believers from the other side. Not too pretty, is it?

December 19, 2012 at 4:01 am |

Samer

It is this life with its drama, tragedies, happiness, good will, evil will, hardships, luxuries and complications that lead us to the greatness of God. It is why God ordered the angels to prostrate to the father of mankind (Adam). This human can become so evil to a level that he/she kills so many innocent children, it is the same human who can escalate to the highest levels of morality, sacrifice and devotion. If this is not the case, humans would be like robots, all good, all nice by nature and not by choice and life becomes boring to death. And if this is not the case, God's creation may not be viewed as miraculous. The death of these innocent kids is so hard to comprehend, however any wise person understands that thousands of innocent kids die and get killed every year throughout this world for many reasons raging from poverty, war, accidents, illness and so on. This is life, the wise is the one who understands the creation of God, realizes how to enjoy the struggle toward God's love in this difficult life and works as hard as possible to make this life and this world a better place for all mankind. If one insists to play the blame game, then for sure it makes more sense to blame the moral and social system that produced such killers than blaming God whom we are not following his commands to begin with.

December 19, 2012 at 3:53 am |

Jack

Good article. Hopefully idiots and charlatans such as Mike Huckabee will shut their mouths, at least during a time of great sorrow and tragedy.

December 19, 2012 at 3:48 am |

Fritz Hohenheim

Nice article, finally some voice against these idiotic slogans that christians put forth in a time like this. I disagree however with the implication that there still is a divine being but that's after all up to debate. Worse than morons like Huckabee (btw CNN update your spellchecker with that name, about time after he ran for president candidate) blubbering nonsense like that is that many Americans swallow it without questioning.

Here is my point: If you believe in an all loving, all powerful and all-seeing god in a face of this tragedy, you're obviously overlooking that one of the three pre conditions has to be wrong logically.

Another point that is probably even less popular: Thousands of children are dying every day from starvation and illness and we don't give a damn about them. These precious little American children on the other hand are about to create a mass panic the likes of which I haven't seen since Lady Di died. There is a great deal of misconception in many people's head. If we are committing so much air time to these 20 victims, why not committing an equal amount of time to the victims of poverty?

December 19, 2012 at 3:45 am |

adh1729

"If you believe in an all loving, all powerful and all-seeing god in a face of this tragedy, you're obviously overlooking that one of the three pre conditions has to be wrong logically."

Do you know what "all-loving" means? Do you know what the state of the universe will be a billion years from now? Humans hate God and generally don't want anything to do with him, and so he often leaves them to reap what they sow, and then you say he isn't being "loving". You want him to molly-coddle a race that spits in his face. You have all the answers, don't you; you are an omniscient, all seeing being (in your own mind at least).

Your ilk spread the doctrine that there was no God, no life after death, no consequences after this life, no right and wrong - guess what, mass killers are just acting out your own doctrines.

December 19, 2012 at 4:41 am |

TruthPrevails :-)

"Your ilk spread the doctrine that there was no God, no life after death, no consequences after this life, no right and wrong"

You have no evidence for god or life after death or consequences after this life. We'd prefer not to see people mislead by stories that have been debunked over and over again. It is your ilk that makes grieving properly impossible...you believe that somehow this mad man will suffer by being sent to a fictional hell but then again you believe that about anyone who dismisses your version of god.
We do believe in right and wrong and we accept that there are consequences in this life (the only one anyone is guaranteed of).

December 19, 2012 at 5:03 am |

sam stone

adh: i don't think that humans hate "god"

i think there are many who do not accept (your version of) god

i think there are many who dislike the pompous who claim to know the mind of god, and then attempt to legislate it

December 19, 2012 at 6:53 am |

Mortimer Levy

Adam Lanza was a freak of nature who emerged into this world via the wrong orifice. He was a piece of human excrement that should have been routed into the depths of our sewage system instead of seeing the light of day. If society actually believes (as is preached on a hourly and daily basis) that God controls everything, then this massacre again proves that He doesn't. And the reason He doesn't is that he doesn't exist. "Faith is a haven for those who seek, a soothing opioid among the meek". It's time we look at ourselves for answers instead of a "God". This time, Stephen Prothero got it right. M.LG

December 19, 2012 at 3:42 am |

PPLRWRD

I think God controls all thing in the sense that he could be involved and influence all things. At the same time I think God is a gentleman. He doesn't go where he is not invited.

December 19, 2012 at 5:17 am |

kokopelli

well, seeing as im too tired to think, i admit defeat.

December 19, 2012 at 3:35 am |

gblog

does that mean you'll think about asking JESUS into your life. he'll be the only friend who will never leave you !!!!!!

December 19, 2012 at 4:06 am |

Elwood P. Dowd

@gblog,

That's exactly like Harvey, my 6'2" invisible rabbit friend is.

December 19, 2012 at 4:47 am |

Bob

God is an offensive concept to those of us who can think for ourselves.

December 19, 2012 at 3:26 am |

adh1729

Did you build your own brain?

God gave you the ability to think. Darwin didn't. People believe evolution for religious reasons, not scientific ones. Atheism is a religion. There is overwhelming scientific reason to doubt evolution as the origin of life as we know it. You don't know very much science, that is for sure.

December 19, 2012 at 4:51 am |

TruthPrevails :-)

adh1729: You're obviously uneducated. Have you discussed with everyone in this world their reasons for believing in evolution? Obviously not, so your little fallacious statement means nothing (kind of like your imaginary friend to those of us not brainwashed). People believe/accept evolution b/c there is scientific evidence to back it. To believe in your version of god or any god means having faith (properly defined as belief without evidence). Even if there were no fossil records to support evolution, there is enough DNA evidence to say it is fact. It is you that does not know much about science. We are not so oblivious to reality and we don't need a scapegoat or a book to tell us how to live.
Atheism is no more a religion than abstinence is sex position.
So you make claims about someone knowing nothing about science but yet your own post shows your complete lack of comprehension about it.
Do you support the creation story? To do that means that you accept incest as a norm.

The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.